I have grown up
From that time when I thought
Those labels that brought me near-salvation
Were everything.
Enlightened now, I see how futile
those were,
Those labels that do not exclusively
incorporate me,
Weren’t everything
Even in a world,
Of labels and categories
Of eagle-eyed looks,
Staring eagerly like hawks
To make a show of my confession
Of who I really am.
My confession makes those eagle-eyes
Turn inwards with the question,
“What all do I have to see,
To hear in this lifetime of mine?”
As if me, my labels, categorizations…
Are all burdens,
While I am actually
Opening my hands in invitation
To share their own blood and tears
With the promise of INCLUSION.
My, now, longer legs and bigger eyes
Take in the beauty in Sharing Vulnerabilities,
Those vibrantly coloured vulnerabilities,
With the lessons of blood and tears,
I realize that discrimination and marginalization
Is not a game like Olympics
Has never been one
To be won by the either team.
Lending a hand to those different,
Dripping the same blood as me,
Crying the same tears as me,
Doesn’t make my pain any lesser.
Rather I gain a warm hand
Enclosing mine,
Supporting mine,
Growing into a much warmer hug
And a promise of INCLUSION
Through Shared Vulnerabilities.
